Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Around the B-Ring

I have been working on maps, but there hasn't been much time to post them. On Saturday, I got completely around the world (with the B-Ring). So here are those maps (note the pretty maps are on the bottom):

The eastern extension of Baffin island, which comprises no more than isolated villages. Like
most of these maps, this will look much more familiar when the coast line is added.

Across the Davis Strait from Baffin, this is the first real coastline that's emerged since Russia. This
is the west coast of Greenland, which looks busy - but remember the hexes are 20 miles wide
and are therefore still mostly empty. The three pink hexes on the far right represent a
piece of Greenland's east coast.

This is the Denmark Strait between the east coast of Greenland and Iceland. That's Iceland on the
right. The orange line is the 30th parallel west, and the remaining bits are the east coast of
Greenland. Nearly all the way around.

And this is the east end of Iceland. I'm not sure what that bit is higher up, left of centre; I'm fairly certain
it's Greenland stretching towards the east. Jan Mayan land, for those who might be interested,
should be somewhere on the right hand side - but it has no permanent habitation, so
until I create coastlines for this map, it won't appear.

And this is the coast of Norway above Tromso, with part of Sweden to boot. This part HAS been
made, and what a difference. I remember how nasty was that coastline when I drew it - and then again
when I upgraded this map.

This, of course, is northern Finland, Sweden and Norway, with part of the Kola Peninsula of Russia.
The eastern shoreline around the White Sea is mostly occupied by an Elven Kingdom, Ulthua,
while northern Sweden is dominated by Gnomes. But its a comfort that the left areas on this map,
Lansi, Nordland and Angermanland, are parts of human Sweden and Norway.

Last map; this is mostly the Gnoll Kingdom of Bjarmaland, divided between Glu'Bak, Gaa'Kaa and
Yak'Margug. As a reminder, the darker gray areas are barren mountains, the lighter gray are
barren tundra and the yellow are muskeg swamps. Jotunheim, at the top, is mythically
the Kingdom of the Frost Giants. I haven't had anyone visit yet.

Going all the way around the world, then, that's 18 maps in the B-Ring. The C-Ring will have 24. Which is to say I haven't hardly begun to add maps ... but most of the ones above did not take much time, just plotting the few occupied hexes on a big empty nothing. The coastlines for those will take MUCH longer.

Remember that these are pretty big maps - 600 miles by 700. Yet it takes many dozens to even map the upper part of the globe. Thankfully, much of the globe is covered by empty ocean, which does not require detailed coastlines or even islands. The B-Ring is, I think, the only one where all the way around the globe there are no sea-only maps.